Short-Term Hiring Tips

Staffing for the busy holiday season goes beyond retail stores. As an engineering staffing agency, our clients have a variety of seasonal demands, from holiday vacation coverage to year-end project work – especially as they look to take advantage of unspent 2015 budget dollars.

As we enter the month of October, now is the time to prepare and get your staffing plan buttoned up. Here are a few of our top tips when it comes to hiring short-term help:

Be open to entry-level candidates. They are hungry to learn and get their foot in the door, so they are dependable. It may take a bit more time to train them, but they will want to impress and could be an asset down the line.

Attract retirees. Retired workers are an ideal group to consider for seasonal work. While they no longer wish to work full-time, many are looking for opportunities to get out, contribute to a team, and make a little extra money. They bring work experience to the table, and so are generally easy to train, and have flexible schedules. You can also often count on retirees to return for more than one season.

Ask employees for referrals. Some of the best sources of seasonal help can come from within your organization. Offer rewards to incentivize successful referrals.

Hire for the long-term. Consider your seasonal spike in workers as a test-run for potential long-term hiring. If you see a shining star during the seasonal rush, take note for future needs.

Start early. You already see some of the seasonal merchandise hitting stores, so it certainly isn’t too early to begin sourcing holiday help. Now is the time to begin building a pipeline of candidates and putting together a training and work schedule.

Partner with a staffing agency. The easiest way to add short-term help to your roster is through a staffing agency. The agency manages the hiring process and covers all employee costs. And you only need to keep the workers for as long as needed.

If you have questions about hiring short-term help, let’s talk! We have ideas to save you time and money.